This year marks the 10th anniversary of the passage of
Proposition 215, the Compassionate Care Act, which received 56 percent of
California voters' support in 1996. Since that time, 10 other states have
passed similar laws, and support for medical cannabis is growing, according to
a report by the Marijuana Policy Project.

The report, "Proposition 215: Ten Years Later,"
finds that legalization of medical marijuana is overwhelmingly supported by the
public, but continues to face significant opposition from the federal
government, despite the fact that 11 states, including California, passed
medical marijuana legislation during the last decade. South Dakota has an
initiative on the November ballot and if passed will make it the 12th state to
legalize marijuana for medical purposes.

"It's a kind of bittersweet anniversary," said
Supervisor Tom Ammiano, who is working on legislation that will be presented to
the board's city operations committee on November 6 to make possession of
medical marijuana a low priority for arrests in San Francisco. "We still
encounter 10 years later the same blind prejudice."

"There's been a lack of leadership from our California
elected officials on this," said Bruce Mirken, director of communications
of the Marijuana Policy Project. "[Senator Dianne] Feinstein was actively
opposed and sort of has moved to neutral over the years. [Senator Barbara]
Boxer, despite pleas from patients, has been continually missing in action, not
overtly working against it, but not being helpful with our ongoing problems
with the feds."

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) is one of a few California lawmakers
in Congress who consistently supports marijuana laws for
medical use and the protection of patients. She has defended Proposition 215
and other legislation supporting medical marijuana as well as patient rights to
safely acquire and possess marijuana on the House floor on four separate
occasions.

Dennis Peron, who wrote Proposition 215 as a eulogy for his
deceased partner, Jonathan, and for patients suffering from life-threatening
diseases who use marijuana for medical purposes, said that after 10 years,
"A lot of people are getting medical marijuana and are not going to jail.
I wrote it so sick people wouldn't have to be hassled, go to jail and have to
hire lawyers when they're ill."

"It's made it possible for sick people to obtain relief
better than they used to. They haven't had to be paranoid about being arrested.
They don't have to go to the park to buy marijuana any longer; they can go to a
safe dispensary," stated Terence Hallinan, former district attorney.

Despite the legal status of Proposition 215 in California,
using marijuana for medical purposes remains in a complex paradigm between federal,
state, and local laws depending mostly on law enforcement attitudes toward
cannabis. Patients are often caught in the middle.

In an attempt to assist law enforcement with identifying
valid patients of medical marijuana, California developed the Medical Marijuana
Program to issue identification cards to patients who have proper prescriptions
for medical cannabis. In January, San Francisco implemented the state program
through the Department of Public Health at San Francisco General Hospital.
Since January, 2,500 cards have been issued. Prior to that, the city had its
own medical marijuana ID card, which has now been incorporated into the state
program.

According to Dr. Joshua Bamberger, medical director of the
health department's Housing and Urban Health program and adviser to the state,
"The main objective of the card program is to identify medical marijuana
users to peace officers, police departments, sheriffs, and so forth so if
someone is carrying marijuana for medical purposes the police might be less
likely to arrest them for possession," he said.

He added that law enforcement officials, however, may make
their own determination whether to arrest someone. Right now, he added, he
believes the program is working well in San Francisco.

While some activists are surprised that 10 years later with
increased public support and scientific knowledge about the benefits of medical
marijuana more progress hasn't been made, Peron isn't. "I'm not surprised
that it has taken this long, but I'm also optimistic that it will happen and I
know it will happen in my lifetime."

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of Proposition 215, a
party is being held on Saturday, November 4, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the LGBT
Community Center, 1800 Market Street in San Francisco. For more information
contact Wayne Justmann at (415) 441-3859.